Getting from Nandi/Fiji into LA/USA went unexpectedly smooth even if they check you quite thorough. Afterwards we had to catch the flight to San Francisco and Boston.

After a 36 hours trip we picked up our rental car and searched for a Motel. We ended up in Seabrooke, New Hampshire and rented a room for 1 week. After some rest we started to check for trucks and 5th wheels.

The jetlag was pretty tough since we crossed the date line and gained one day. Micha was surprisingly fit but I had really issues. In the night I couldn’t sleep and during the day and felt like Frankenstein. So Micha had to do all the research.

We were looking for a pick up truck possibly with Diesel engine which is almost impossible to get in the USA. Additionally it had to be at least ¾ to a ton with an 8 ft bed to pull a 5 tons 5th wheel. And it would be good to have 6 seats.

This seemed to be Mission Impossible!

However Micha found the car via ebay. An old school truck, Ford F350, 1996 built with Diesel engine. Only problem, the car is in Pennsylvania – 460 miles away, crossing 5 states. Doesn’t matter, this is the car!

On Wednesday the ebay offer ends, so we have to pay a deposit. Since the bad clouds are following us we had to ask Micha’s Dad to transfer some money via PayPal. Ours doesn’t work from America. This is really strange.

We couldn’t sleep in the night so we hopped in our rental car and drove to Pennsylvania. After 11 hours – 1 ½ hours dosing at a rest area – we got the car. It really seems to be in perfect shape except the tires. So he gave us some used ones on top.

After we dropped off the rental car in Pennsylvania – the mechanical check light was blinking crazy, we started to head back to our Motel. Since the tires were in such bad conditions we had to change them.

On our way back our GPS just froze and after 15 minutes it calculated a very strange route, via little villages. So it took a bit longer and we got stopped by the police twice. Once they even checked inside the car, so we had to wait outside.

Well the temporary tag 460 miles away from Pennsylvania seems to be irritating. Let’s call our truck “Gangsta” since it must have attracted quite some attention to the police.

After a 29 hours trip we were totally exhausted and are happy to be back in the Motel.